This Week Ten Years Ago

Offbeat oddity (courtesy of the planner): Starfish have multiple eyes, one at the end of each leg.

This witty one liner is another one of my life philosophies. I smile and smile and smile and when they look away I quickly google or ask my nearest ally what the hell was going on. This has worked for me for a very long time. You smile and laugh when everyone else laughs, then you figure out what the hell was going on later. I even figured out how to get other people to get the answers for me without looking stupid : ) As you can tell, I put a lot of stock in appearing smart, cool, and on top of things!

Again, 16 year old me has let us down in regards to providing us with a quote so here is one from 26 year old me:

“Kiss me. Make me drunk with your kisses. Your sweet loving is better than wine. You are fragrant. You are myrrh and aloes. All the young women want you. Take me by the hand. Let us run together. My lover, my king has brought me into his chambers, We will laugh, you and I, and count each kiss better than wine.” – Song of Songs

I heard this quote while I was listening to a podcast about Spirituality and Sexuality, which was a very interesting one to listen to because as Catholic-raised there is a sharp division in spirituality and sexuality. I was lucky to have parents who believed that sexuality and expressing that sexuality were normal and human and did not try to repress me. I often heard “You come by [your sexuality] naturally” when talking to them. I hope that when I have children I can raise them to not be afraid of their bodies and their sexualities, and to have their own spirituality. Our bodies are the only vessel we have in this life time and we spend so much time hating them and denying them. Why? Why should I hate the body that houses who I am and allows me to walk through this world and experience its wonders? What does it matter if I don’t have a thigh gap or if I have mismatched breasts? It matters because we are taught that it matters.

There was another quote during that program that was “To be sexual and to be soulful are very close to each other” – Thomas Moore. I know that humanity handles reality by splitting it into hierarchical dichotomies, but why? Why does there have to be good and bad when it comes to things that are neutral. Sexuality is not bad. It is natural. It is normal. Everyone has their own level/type of sexuality from asexual to sexual and trying to mold and twist them to fit some fucked up societal ideal is one of the reasons why we are so messed up.

The offbeat oddity reminds me of Madeleine L’Engle and my sister. My sister used to always say to me, quoting some show or movie I had never seen, “And remember, keep reaching for the stars because the stars don’t have arms to reach for you!”